Thousands of people march in Madrid in 2014 against what they saw as a diluting of Spain’s abortion law.
Photograph: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

It is easier for a woman to get an abortion in conservative US states like Texas, Catholic European countries like Poland and Portugal – and even in parts of Latin America – than it is in Northern Ireland.

Abortion laws in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic are the most restrictive in Europe. Terminations in both jurisdictions are only permissible on the grounds of a threat to the life of the mother.

‘If abortion were legal in Northern Ireland, women wouldn’t have to suffer.’
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In most other parts of Europe abortion is allowed without restriction up to between 10 and 14 weeks’ gestation. In most countries abortions can be carried out beyond this point, but only on specific grounds.

So, for example, in Greece abortions can be carried out on demand up to a limit of 12 weeks. However, a limit of 19 weeks applies in cases where the pregnancy was the result of rape and 24 weeks where there is a threat to the life or health of the woman and in cases of foetal abnormality that would result in a serious congenital defect.

An exception to these graduated restrictions on abortion is the Netherlands where, the United Nations notes, “abortion is permitted virtually on request at any time between implantation and viability if performed by a physician in a (licensed) hospital or clinic”.

In Poland abortion is legal in certain circumstances, including where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, in cases of foetal impairment or to avert a danger to the health or life of the pregnant woman. The country has the lowest recorded abortion rate in Europe at just two abortions per 1,000 live births in 2012.

In Finland, Iceland and the UK restrictions are in place yet abortion rates remains relatively high at 174, 223 and 253 terminations per 1,000 live births.

In Catholic Portugal and Spain abortion on demand was introduced as a result of a 2007 referendum in the former and a 2010 law change in the latter.

However, in both countries it remains contentious. In Portugal a recently adopted bill requires women to pay for terminations and to undergo more stringent tests beforehand. In Spain in 2014 the government had to abandon its plans to enact legislation that would have imposed some of the tightest restrictions in Europe.

The Americas

States cannot pass laws banning abortion outright and so they impose restrictions, such as waiting periods, to delay women, along with onerous requirements that cause abortion clinics to shut down. Limited access to providers can amount to a de facto ban on abortion.

A law in Texas is a good case in point. The law, now being debated before the US supreme court, may close half of all the state’s abortion clinics. Before the law, which the state’s Republican legislature passed in 2013, Texas had 41 clinics. Today, the number has dwindled to 20. If the law is fully upheld, only nine or 10 clinics will remain.

More than 5.4 million women of reproductive age live in Texas. If only a few abortion providers were left, some researchers estimate that nearly 2 million women would live more than 50 miles from the nearest abortion clinic. But even with 20 abortion clinics up and running, it is already nearly impossible for many women to have an abortion. In Dallas, Forth Worth, and Austin, women are waiting up to 20 days to be seen by a doctor, at which point the procedure becomes more expensive.

The law is also confusing: abortion providers and pro-choice nonprofit-making organisations have reported getting phone calls from many women wanting to know if abortion is still legal in Texas.

And there is emerging evidence that the law is dangerous. One survey found that between 100,000 and 240,000 women in Texas have tried to perform their own abortions at home with pills or sharp objects.

Latin America

A 13-year-old girl holds her baby at a shelter in Paraguay. The girl said she was first raped by her stepfather when she was 10 and became pregnant at 12. In Paraguay, abortion is banned except when the mother’s life is in danger. Photograph: Jorge Saenz/AP

As the most secular and social progressive nation in South America, Uruguay has blazed the trail towards abortion decriminalisation in this predominantly Catholic continent.

After a 25-year campaign by feminist groups, parliament gave its approval in 2012 for terminations of pregnancies up to 12 weeks regardless of circumstances, and up to 14 weeks in cases of alleged rape.

The only restriction is that women seeking such a procedure must first discuss the matter with a panel of at least three professionals, including a gynaecologist, a mental health professional and a social worker. After they explain the risks and alternatives, she must then wait for a five-day “reflection period” before deciding whether to go ahead.

Almost one in 10 chose to continue their pregnancies, but abortions are becoming more common. In 2014, 12 out of every 1,000 women aged between 15 and 45 had an abortion. This was about 20% more than in the previous year.

Women’s rights activists say Uruguay has been able to move ahead because of the long separation of religion and government.

“Uruguay has been a secular state for over 100 years, since its construction, and the idea of the secular state is very well integrated in society,” said Lilián Abracinskas, the director of the pro-choice NGO Mujer y Salud (Woman and Health). “It is also part of the education system. This is a big difference in comparison with the other countries in the region.”

Political activism and collaboration has also been important. Verónica Pérez, a political scientist at the University of the Republic, attributed the passage of the law to the campaigns of feminist activists and their close ties to the leftwing parties that controlled parliament and the presidency in 2012. Other leftwing governments in the region have not been as supportive of women’s rights.

The new Latin American left aren't necessarily secular and this is an object to decriminalisation

“The new Latin American left aren’t necessarily secular and this is an obstacle to decriminalisation,” she said. “The Uruguayan process is matched only by the decriminalisation of abortion in the Federal District of Mexico in 2007, where the same combination of factors was present.”

Opposition led by Catholic groups has faltered. In 2013, an attempt to overturn decriminalisation through a referendum secured the support of only 9% of voters.

Pérez said free, legal abortion was one of the reasons why Uruguay had the lowest rate of maternal death in Latin America.

Even before the law was changed, the government had relaxed penalties to enable women to initiate non-surgical abortions at home using drugs. Before that, there were an estimated 20,000 hospital admissions a year because of hazardous, illegal abortions.